Event Report: Championship Wrestling Live From Myrtle Beach

[AUTHOR'S NOTE - MARCH 17, 2015: It would appear as though the show described in this event report will go down as the first and only edition of Championship Wrestling: Live From Myrtle Beach.

Several of the talents who were to appear at the subsequent shows on April 4 and May 2 (namely Jaxson James and John Skyler) have announced they are available for bookings on those dates and the CWLFMB Facebook page has been taken offline. There has been no official word on whether or not the promotion is finished (and with it the likelihood of a physical Hall of Heroes museum), but based on these facts it could be assumed that the group is, in fact, dead.]

Professional wrestling has been a staple in my neck of the woods for generations, and for all that time there have been cities that were particularly kind to the sport of kings. Charlotte, Columbia, Greensboro, Spartanburg - all have played host to events that have earned legendary status thanks to the men and women who made up the rosters of the promotions for which they happened to have been working at the time.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is a legendary town in its own right albeit for very different reasons than those I mentioned previously. "The Redneck Riviera", as it is sometimes referred to (I prefer "Dirty Myrtle", personally), is one of the most popular vacation destinations on the East coast of the United States as it attracts millions of tourists each and every year. While there is some history to Myrtle Beach as it pertains to pro wrestling's past (truth be told, I once sat through a thunderstorm at what is now the Hollywood Wax Museum location in Myrtle Beach to wait and see whether or not a scheduled UWF-TNA house show was going to happen), but its heritage is not nearly as rich as other cities in the Carolinas. Be that as it may, a new promotion has emerged onto the Carolinas' independent professional wrestling scene, setting up shop not too far away from the bright lights of the Grand Strand.

As you might expect, there was a fair amount of hype within the local wrestling community surrounding the reveal of a new promotion, and it was enough for me to label their debut as a can't-miss event. Even though Myrtle Beach isn't exactly a stone's throw away from my base of operations, it was important enough in my mind (especially being the pseudo-documentarian that I am) that it warranted the effort. All that having been said, I'm pleased to say that I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the first show promoted by Championship Wrestling: Live From Myrtle Beach which was held on Saturday, March 7, 2015.

CWLFMB is the brainchild of Greg Price, the man behind the tremendously successful Mid-Atlantic Legends Fan Festivals, and its existence was brought to light in December of 2014. CWLFMB's Spring Showdown Series - three events set to take place across a three month span beginning March 7, extending to April 4, and concluding May 2 - was announced not long after initial word of the intention to bring wrestling back to Myrtle Beach was made known. Talent featured on CWLFMB's events would be a mixture of athletes pulled from the region (such as Kameron Kade, Jaxson James, and others) as well as a few drawn names such as "The Crown Jewel" Chase Owens, Los Ben Dejos (Rios & Cruz), the Bravado Brothers (Harlem & Lancelot), and former WWE Diva/current Impact Wrestling ring announcer Christy Hemme was brought in as a special attraction for fans as well.

Before I go much further I'd like to point out a few things about the venue itself as part of describing the fan experience of having attended this show. The CWLFMB events are being promoted as taking place at the Myrtle Beach Sportatorium. Sportatoriums have become the rage here lately as there will soon be three venues - the CWF Mid-Atlantic Sportatorium (Gibsonville, NC), the Union Fairgrounds Sportatorium (Union, SC), and now this one in Myrtle Beach - operating under that moniker. What makes a sportatorium a sportatorium? Quite frankly I have no idea, but I'll admit it sounds cool.

In reality the venue is actually the X Gym Sports Mall which is located just off highway 501 in the area of Medieval Times and other attractions. The X Gym is an interesting place as it's a gigantic warehouse that's been subdivided into smaller subsections that are either themed towards specific sports (basketball, gymnastics, archery, etc.) or leased out to entities (such as Teazer's Pole Fitness - yes, you read that correctly). If you know your promotions from around the Carolinas you'll know that the X Gym is also the home of C4W Explosive Wrestling. I have no way of confirming this but I'm operating off the assumption that CWLFMB events are more or less using C4W's setup in something of a time share agreement. It's convenient for CWLFMB, however it makes you wonder what C4W is getting out of the deal.

I arrived at the venue around 5 PM with the expectation that doors would be opening in the area of 6 PM. Having been to a C4W event in the past I thought I knew where I was going after I entered the X Gym. However, it's been several years since I went one of their shows and as it turns out they've moved to a different part of the X Gym (located directly beside Teazer's Pole Fitness - yes, you read that correctly). A quick consult with the staff at the front desk had me going in the right direction.

There were three ticketing options for this event: Front row ($20), ringside ($15), and general admission ($10). (I selected general admission because I'm cheap, to be perfectly honest.) When it came time for the doors to open, fans were lined up by what ticket they had purchased with front row going in first, ringside second, and general admission last. Each group had the opportunity to meet Christy Hemme for autographs and pictures as it was part of the admission fee, and I believe most of the roster were available for fans to interact with in the area of their own merchandise tables before the show.

Not being one to particularly obsess over merch (I'm not an autograph hound and no one ever has t-shirts in my size), I instead made my way inside the "Myrtle Beach Sportatorium" to get a seat and settle in before someone else in the crowd could beat me to an ideal spot. I was able to get a great vantage point on the top row of a set of bleachers - bleachers which seemed to have been freshly built seeing as how the wood was still wet and lightly covered with sawdust. It was at this point that I became particularly pleased with my ticketing selection as the difference between a $20 seat and a $10 seat was revealed to be a matter of inches.

The distance between my seat ($10) and front row ($20)

It seemed odd and somewhat precarious to me that there's only one way in or out of the Myrtle Beach Sportatorium (which requires you to walk directly past the concession stand, by the way). Unless you were to jump the guard rail - and I would never recommend anyone do so unless you absolutely want to get your rear end handed to you by a couple wrestlers, a referee, a ring announcer, and maybe a time keeper, too - there's no other way to get out than to walk around the entire perimeter of the venue. The confines are just that, confining, meaning if you should have to get up for any reason during the show you'll be saying "excuse me" or "pardon me" to a whole bunch of folks, depending on how deep your seat is inside the venue. I don't know what the law states about this kind of thing but even with this arena being a subdivision of a larger building you would think there would have to be more than one exit for safety's sake.

The layout isn't the only questionable thing about this venue. The guard rails at ringside are made from wood and there are plenty of sharp, un-padded, un-sanded edges from which little hands and fingers could get splinters. I say "little hands and fingers" but the truth of it is that big hands and fingers could get them too, and not just fans. This same surface is exposed to the wrestlers, and it goes without saying that the lack of padding makes anything outside the ring a risky venture at best.

Speaking of the ring, I believe this particular squared circle has the potential to injure someone significantly. I am not a wrestler, true, and every wrestling ring has inherent risks but an educated eye can see that this particular ring has almost no give to it whatsoever, not even in the areas that are generally considered to be the "softest" part of a wrestling ring (as soft as something made out of tubular steel and 2" x 12" planks of wood can be, that is). There are ways of having a match without the competitors having to take too many bumps, however I would contend that any bump in a ring like this one could lead to injuries. It does make me feel better, though, to know that they've secured a set of pool noodles to the ring posts with what is almost certainly several hundred feet of electrical tape so as to cover the bolts that connect the turnbuckles to the ring.

That's enough about the venue and the arena - lets talk about the matches, shall we?

1) "The Southern Savior" John Skyler def. "The Thoroughbred" Jaxson James via springboard tornado DDT

This was every bit the match you would expect from two of the best young talents to have come out of the Carolinas independent pro wrestling scene in recent history. Both of them have traveled far & wide to appear in promotions all over the map and both of them have made in-ring appearances with WWE working as good, old fashioned "enhancement talent". I would like to say that both of them have legitimate chances of working at that next level as fully contracted members of WWE's roster but I don't know that Skyler has the size to get there and I genuinely resent having that feeling because if he had the stature of someone like Jaxson James he'd probably already have a contract. It's a sickening aspect of this business, that a look can overshadow talent, however aesthetics and presentation are a big part of it.

Sadly the crowd seemed to be somewhat out of it through portions of this match as there were times where it seemed as though you could hear a pin drop. It was like we had been transported to Japan where fans sit in near silence while watching wrestling out of respect for what's happening in front of them. The audience did get with it somewhat as the match went on but at least initially they clearly had no idea who to boo and who to cheer.

2) "#REAL" Joshua Cutshall def. Kameron Kade via brogue kick

Much like the first match, here you had a contest with the dynamic being a larger opponent (Cutshall) facing a smaller one (Kade) and the classic conundrum of speed versus size. Kade tends to be a villain rather than a good guy, or at least he has been in the matches I've seen him, so to have him here as the hero was a departure for me. He did fine in the role, though, and showed some fantastic ability to connect with a crowd. This was my first exposure to seeing Cutshall compete in person; he's one of several talents I'd hoped to be able to scout this year so I'm glad to have had the chance to see him live. His entrance music is a heavy metal version of the theme music from THE WALKING DEAD, so he's alright in my book.

- Ring announcer Corky Franks was out for an in-ring interview segment with Christy Hemme at this point. Hemme took the time to put over Myrtle Beach as a vacation destination and showed appreciation to the fans for making professional wrestling what it is.

3) "The Southern Savior" John Skyler def. "Cauliflower" Chase Brown via low blow/roll up

Needless to say, it surprised me to see Skyler out for another match on the card, making this his second bout of the evening which was contested less than 20 minutes after his first match concluded. That's a lot to ask of anyone, even athletes like him. This was a different style of match, though, one that at least at first was more geared towards Chase Brown's catch-as-catch-can style of wrestling that involves a variety of holds and other maneuvers. Brown has gotten something of a loveable loser groundswell of support from fans and he's taken advantage of a few recent booking decisions by other promotions. I'm fans of his and Skyler but this match didn't seem to have the same consistency as other matches I've seen where these two faced one another.

- Tessa Blanchard then came to the ring and cut a promo for her match next month at the April event against "Crazy" Mary Dobson. After she entered the ring she immediately removed the high heels she'd been wearing, saying that she preferred her wrestling boots to them. She was sporting a brace on her right ankle and was noticeably limping as she got out of the ring; hopefully whatever injury she has is one she can work through without it affecting her long term.

4) "The Crown Jewel" Chase Owens def. "Country Jacked" Corey Hollis via package piledriver

Corey Hollis is one of the most athletic wrestlers you're ever likely to encounter. He's a classic cruiserweight who never seems to be in anything other than high gear, making him a real treat to watch against other, similar talents. Chase Owens is still fresh from having spent time in Japan working for New Japan Pro Wrestling where he feuded with the likes of Jushin "Thunder" Liger over the NWA World Junior Heavyweight title, a championship he's held three times. Despite the fact that he's as lauded as he is, Owens didn't seem to show much fire or ring presence here. It looked as though he was trying to play the role of heel tough guy but it came off as though he was phoning it in. The match was enjoyable nevertheless and Hollis proved to be a quick fan favorite with the people in attendance.

5) The Bravado Brothers (Harlem & Lancelot) def. Los Ben Dejos (Rios & Cruz) via Gentleman's Agreement

To make an analogy, up until this match the entire show had been very much a musical composition written without much variation. I won't say it had been a one-note song but it definitely needed something to break up the tone of serious competition that had been established. This is an example of a show where you'd love to have a Colt Cabana, Jake Manning, or Zane Riley pop up.

That said, the combination of these four men wound up being exactly what the card needed to liven up the overall experience. The Bravados and Los Ben Dejos have a lengthy rivalry and they continued it at this event. To say they had more fun with it than I've ever really encountered before when watching their matches would be an understatement. The match began with a lighthearted moment when Cruz snatched a piece of Little Caesar's Pizza from Tessa Blanchard (who was still at ringside for commentary); he needed a beverage to wash down the $5 pie and someone in the audience tossed him a bottle of Pepsi. The shaken bottle of soda did what a shaken bottle of soda typically does when you open it - it spewed everywhere, prompting the CWLFMB towel boy to spring into action. They played off this silly moment and transitioned it into what became a great main event.

With only five matches and a running time of barely 2 hours, the show did feel somewhat abbreviated compared to other indie events. I have a feeling that there were some issues in regard to securing talent for this event seeing as how Skyler competed twice and there were a number of competitors announced as being involved who either cancelled (the American Wolves, Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) or who were advertised and simply weren't there (Lince Dorado and Mickey Gambino). These could've been scheduling conflicts but they could've also been the result of licensing issues seeing as how the Athletic Commission in the state of South Carolina likes to make sure everyone plays by the their rules. (See what I did there?) The show being as short as it was did mean that the drive home put me back onto my pillow at a more decent hour than otherwise, so there's that.

Overall I would say that this was a good show and that it was worth the drive to see the debut of a new promotion. I don't know that I'll be back for another of the three initial offerings they have planned but I do hope that things work out for the best with CWLFMB. Greg Price has given several interviews where he's mentioned plans to expand the Myrtle Beach Sportatorium so that it can play host to other combat sports such as mixed-martial arts and boxing. In addition, Price is looking to have the Myrtle Beach Sportatorium serve as a home to a physical "hall of fame" wherein inductees to the Mid-Atlantic Hall of Heroes will be enshrined along with memorabilia and other mementos. It would be a real shame if these additions don't pan out as there's been a lot of talk building up the potential this project has for the future of professional wrestling in the region.

Of course it would have been remiss of me not to document my experience with CWLFMB via my YouTube series, RASSLIN' WITH REDBEARD, which you can check out via the link below!



As I mentioned earlier in this event report the next CWLFMB will take place on April 4, and so far the card includes three matches. Tessa Blanchard looks to earn another notch of credibility as she will lock up with "Crazy" Mary Dobson. "The Southern Savior" John Skyler will face "The Crown Jewel" Chase Owens with the winner of this match set to take on Cedric Alexander at the May 2 event. In what is sure to be a very entertaining match-up, the Bravado Brothers will be challenged by Worst Case Scenario (Ethan Case & Elijah Evans IV), and awaiting the winner of that bout on the May 2 card will be Country Jacked (Corey Hollis & Adam Page).

For more information on CWLFMB, visit them online at these locations:

- LiveFromMyrtleBeach.com
- Facebook.com/LiveFromMyrtleBeach
- Twitter.com/FromMyrtleBeach
- Facebook.com/MyrtleBeachSportatorium
- Twitter.com/MBSportatorium

Event Report: WrestleForce presents AGGRESSION

I feel like I give WrestleForce a lot of coverage, to the point where I - as someone who wants to be able to put the spotlight on independent wrestling in the Carolinas as a whole - almost feel like I need to apologize for not spreading the love (for lack of a better phrase) more than I do. The fact of the matter is that promotions in this part of the world are so spread to the wind that traveling around to shows takes such an investment, financial and otherwise, that it's just not something I can do each and every month. WrestleForce is a local promotion that runs in a venue less than 45 minutes from my home, which makes it convenient. The fact that they're the best promotion in the state of South Carolina makes it ideal.

WF made their debut at a new venue for AGGRESSION, their first event of 2015. Gone are the days of them running out of a bar named for airplane storage - they've moved up to a genuine sports-oriented complex as they're now calling the Spires Recreation Center in Cayce, SC their home. It's a great move for them as I always felt having shows at a bar, while not a horrible option, does create some limitations in terms of being able to attract kids and families to events (not to mention potential sponsors or advertisers). You're not going to get little Bobby's Mom & Dad to take him to a show held in a bar when they were in church a few hours prior. You will, however, get them into a gymnasium in a decent neighborhood just outside of downtown Columbia and that was proven with this show as attendance was fantastic.

The opening match on the card was a real barn burner between the likes of Corey Hollis and former WF heavyweight champion Cedric Alexander. If you're thinking what I'm thinking it's that this match could have been much later on the card as these two are the kind of talents that could justifiably compete for a title anywhere they go. These two didn't seem to mind, though, because they put on a show that set the bar incredibly high for the rest of the night. Truth be told, this is the kind of match I could watch all day long and not get tired of it.



The unenviable task of following that went to a group of wrestlers aligned in teams for a 6-man tag team match where "The Party Man-imal" Zane Riley would join together with the Fortunate Sons (Jesse Windham & Billy Brash) to face the Equal Nation Demonstration (Avgerinos the Great, Jett Black & Kevin Phoenix) who were lead to the ring by their manager "The" Tommy Thomas. Any match involving Zane Riley has at least a chance to be entertaining, and that's exactly what this match was - entertaining!



WF shows don't always feature female competitors, which is a criticism I've seen some fans levy at them. Whether it be for the sake of diversifying a card or simply for providing some eye candy, I can't justifiably argue against the idea that having a consistent women's "division" is a good thing. Regardless, anyone wanting to see the women of WF in action were in luck as AGGRESSION featured the debut of two talented ladies - Lilly Mae and none other than Tessa Blanchard, the daughter of Tully Blanchard.



[SIDE NOTE: Before Lilly Mae and Tessa Blanchard's match, WF social media specialist and ring announcer Brett Wolverton had some issues with his microphone. The problems cropped up during Blanchard's introduction, and she was upset to the point of forcing Wolverton to shout her intro at the top of his lungs. WF's owner "The Fabulous Playboy" Bob Keller emerged from behind the scenes to seemingly save the day with a functional mic, but of course he couldn't let an opportunity to rib Wolverton go to waste...



Poor Brett...]

Next was a match for the WF tag team championship between defending champs The Flock (LODI & Sick Boy) vs. The Bravado Brothers (Harlem & Lancelot). Originally this match was to have been between The Flock and Worst Case Scenario (Ethan Case & Elijah Evans IV) but apparently there was some issue with WCS not having the proper licenses that are required for wrestlers per the South Carolina Athletic Commission. [SIDE NOTE: Ugh...] The Bravado Brothers held the WF tag team straps previously but were never granted a rematch after they lost the titles, which is why they were given the opportunity to replace WCS here. They would have to contend with the bout being contested under FLOCK RULZ, meaning there would be no rules!



After the tag team championship match and intermission there was supposed to have been a match between "The Twisted Metal Rebel" Hexx and "The Inspiration" Brady Pierce, a continuation of a feud stemming from their relationship with "The Midnight Son" Caleb Konley (Hexx was Konley's bodyguard, a role Pierce now commands). Unfortunately it seems as though Pierce had the same licensing issue as WCS as he was not allowed to compete at AGGRESSION per an official ruling by the SCAC. [SIDE NOTE: Double-ugh...] As such, the match ended in a forfeit and the win was awarded to Hexx. The state of their rivalry now sits in limbo as it's anyone's guess where things between the two will go from here.

I'm not sure how many casual fans of World Wrestling Entertainment realize the fact that Ricardo Rodriguez, who was the personal ring announcer for Alberto Del Rio for a number of years, also competed as a wrestler while he was in WWE's employ. He was seen mostly in appearances on NXT programming as the masked luchadore El Local. Rodriguez would make his debut for WF at AGGRESSION, and in an appropriate turn of events he would have his own personal ring announcer for his match against "The Modern Classic" BJ Hancock - none other than "The Party Man-imal" Zane Riley.



I know that labeling a match as a "match of the year" candidate isn't something to be taken lightly which is why I am genuine in doing so for the main event of AGGRESSION. Defending WF heavyweight champion "The Southern Savior" John Skyler would find himself locked inside a 15 foot high steel cage with "The Salem Sinner" Sixx and "The Thoroughbred" Jaxson James, two men who had each won the right to challenge the WF champion. (In order to give credit where credit is due, I applaud the crew WF had in place to install the cage; I've seen that process take an insane amount of time on independent events but they managed to get the thing assembled very quickly and securely.) I don't feel the match needs any more set up than that which is why I'm going to stop talking and let the action speak for itself.



The 2015 edition of AGGRESSION was a great event from top to bottom. I thoroughly enjoyed myself with this show and am very much looking forward to seeing what else WF has in store this year.

WrestleForce's next event will be UNLEASHED, which will feature the debut of former WWE Superstar Eugene, and it is apparently going to involve some level of fan interaction regarding how some (or possibly all) of the matches will be configured. Details and specifics on that are said to be forthcoming. I would imagine there will be a Control Center video released via YouTube in the near future that will spell out exactly what that aspect of the event will entail. UNLEASHED set to take place April 26 from the Spires Recreation Center. Check out the poster for that event and links to their social media sites below!

Facebook.com/WrestleForce
Twitter.com/WrestleForce

Event Report: Ultra Wrestle presents AWAKENS

Several weeks back I made the somewhat lengthy drive from my base of operations in Saint Matthews, South Carolina over to Abbeville, SC to witness an independent professional wrestling event promoted by a company known as Ultra Wrestle. The show - which was entitled AWAKENS, an apparent attempt at getting a rub from the fact that the next Star Wars film is being called "The Force Awakens" - would be UW's first of 2015 and looked to be something of a relaunch for the promotion heading into the new year seeing as how UW ran a handful of events in 2014 but now seems prepared to stake a claim in the western part of the state.

Abbeville is about as far west as you can go in traveling through the state of South Carolina without winding up in Georgia. It's not too far from Augusta, GA, but it is most definitely what a lot of people would consider a town in the middle of nowhere seeing as how there's not much to do there. As such, when something like professional wrestling "invades" (I have always hated seeing that word used in relation to a wrestling event; no one in wrestling politely enters, they always invade, wreck, or destroy - and people wonder why it's so difficult to get venues to rent out their facility for wrestling), people will come out to see it because it's something fresh, new, and exciting that they don't get to see very often, if ever. For this reason (along with the fact that UW's ownership did their job in actually promoting the event), AWAKENS was a tremendous success. The floor seats and bleachers were full, the gimmick tables were busy, and the concession stand had a line 10-15 people deep at times.

Starting off the show was this match between Alan Price and "The Thoroughbred" Jaxson James. Price has seen action with promotions around this part of the state and with a few entities running shows in the area of the low country. James is one of the top prospects in the Carolinas at this point in time, and he's only going to get better. That said, I will say that when I watched this match live I wasn't thrilled with it as it seemed clunky in spots. However, a second viewing told me a different story, one I didn't immediately notice the first time around.



For the second match on the card Chase "Cauliflower" Brown would meet Dean Richards. This was my first exposure to Richards; he seems to have plenty of ability but his physique is definitely a work in progress. What he lacks most, in my opinion, is a sense of charisma which is something that Brown has albeit in an odd kind of way. Chase fancies himself as an old school shooter or catch wrestler and he comes off as a kind of loveable grappler you can't help but cheer for. The match these two wound up having would prove to be a real physical test for both men as it went in a direction you don't often see on the independent scene.



Before you read further I'd like to make a comment about this next match. Yes, it involves Alan Price - yes, Alan Price was already in a match on the AWAKENS card. You see, our friends at the South Carolina Athletic Commission (SCAC being the division of LLR that oversees legitimate combat sports like boxing, mixed martial arts and...Professional wrestling?) made an appearance at this event and, as it would turn out, a few of the scheduled participants had to be removed from the card for failure to secure the proper licenses. As much as I would like to think that the SCAC isn't just a group of old fashioned Boss Hogg types disguised as government officials and that their role is a legitimate one in making sure things are being done properly (a sentiment that I detailed in a blog entry last year - Wrestlers & Promoters vs. South Carolina's Athletic Commission), there's this side of the coin where it seems like they should have better things to do than come around and tell a few people they can't put on costumes and dance with one another. It is what it is, and the show must go on!

This contest was a throwback to a different era, where wrestlers didn't have to do insane moves and all but kill themselves to elicit a response from the crowd. You don't see this kind of wrestling all that often anymore as the current generation of pro wrestlers have seemingly all been trained with the same mentality that the developers of a video game like Mortal Kombat have in mind when they're preparing a new title. By that I mean most matches seem to be nothing but a series of in-congruent moves strung together without any purpose that eventually culminate in one participant or the other succumbing to some random maneuver when their invisible health meeter has been depleted. Something that you see even less frequently than effective ring psychology is the performance of a manager like "Big Business" James McHone. The trio of him, Deon Johnson, and Boomer Payne made for a truly entertaining assemblage, one that Price and his tag team partner "Mr. Sleeze" Erik Thompson would have a hard time overcoming.



I feel obliged to tell you that Brice Anthony is one of my oldest friends from the world of independent professional wrestling - actually, he is my oldest friend from the world of independent professional wrestling. He and I were part of a promotion that ran in & around Lancaster, SC back 10-15 years ago. I say "he and I" when in reality he was a wrestler and I was something of a glorified gopher boy/photographer/web designer who did whatever was asked of me because it meant I got to be a part of a pro wrestling company. Brice's career in the ring has had a number of stops and starts but his passion for competition burns as bright now as I've ever seen it. He's a more mature hand and it is plainly evident in contrasting the kind of things I saw him do when we were younger to how he now enjoys making the fans hate him with not much more than the expression on his face.

For his match at AWAKENS, Brice would lock horns with local favorite Hoss Hagood - or Hoss Hayseed as Brice's manager, "Big Business" James McHone, referred to him. The main event of the show is still to come but, for my money, I felt like this was the best match of the evening.



Capping off the card was the main event, a tag team match featuring four of the best and brightest young professional wrestlers competing in this neck of the woods. AWAKENS would end with Avgerinos the Great and Josh Powers, better known as The Living Daylights, squaring off against TK Stark and Jett Black, a flashy, athletic duo calling themselves Chemical Z.



As I have watched talent come and go from this region over the years, I have oftentimes asked myself who will be left to continue on with things once the top tier guys & girls get opportunities in greener pastures? While I will be completely honest in saying that I feel fantastic about the fact that wrestlers who cut their teeth in the Carolinas move away because of the fact that business is better in different parts of the world, I always worry that the scene here will dry up and vanish or otherwise be left with nothing but backyard-level companies and wrestlers. That day may come but it's not here yet thanks to promotions like Ultra Wrestle and its roster.

The next Ultra Wrestle event is tentatively scheduled for March 28 in McCormick, SC. For details on that and everything else relating to UW, be sure to check out their social media sites at the following links.

Facebook.com/UltraWrestle
Twitter.com/UltraWrestle
YouTube.com/UltraWrestle

Our Road to Building a Family - Portrait Innovations? More like Portrait Hostage Negotiations!

It goes without saying that as new parents my wife and I are constantly taking pictures and video of our son, The Duke. We make great use of the fact that our cell phones are equipped with way better than average cameras - I couldn't tell you how many of him I have on my personal device but I would say it's in the area of 100 to 150 shots at this point in time. (My wife likely has 2 or 3 times as many, and I am rather scared to consider how many my mother in-law has.) That's one of the lovely aspects of digital photography as opposed to traditional film. You can take hundreds if not thousands of photos, more or less to your hearts content, because the only concern you have is whether or not your memory card is getting full. I recall when I was a kid feeling lucky if I got 24 quality exposures out of a roll of film. (Do people even remember what a roll of film looked like?)

Those pictures are all well and good but they're not the professional, keepsake kind of photos that every family has hanging around their home. This being the case, my wife decided a few weeks back that it was high time we had some pictures taken.

If it sounds like I wasn't exactly overwhelmed with joy over the idea, you wouldn't be too far off base. It's not that I didn't agree that we ought to do what we can to document Duke's life in as grand a method as possible, rather it was the frugal side of my personality taking over. (Call me cheap if you want to, I like to think of myself as being fairly skilled at stretching a dollar and that's not a bad thing.) Actually, my frugal side didn't so much take over as it did go into a screaming, riotous conniption fit seeing as how I suspected this was going to be a pricey endeavor, and that was with me having absolutely zero knowledge of what a photo shoot with a commercial vendor goes for these days.

After we'd decided to look into having pictures taken my wife booked an appointment for us with the Picture People studio at the Buy Buy Baby location in Columbia, South Carolina. I don't think either one of us took the time to investigate what the cost of their services might be at the point in time the appointment was made. Was that a mistake? Maybe, maybe not. In hindsight it likely wouldn't have mattered as they don't seem to publish their pricing online, but that fact should have been enough of a red flag for my frugal sense to start going berserk.

We wound up visiting that Buy Buy Baby before our appointment as we were in the area and needed a few supplies. Jill got some documentation from them that included a menu of sorts with packages they were currently offering. One of the lower packages was in the area of $300.

Suffice to say that frugal me had a mild stroke at the sight of that...

We canceled the appointment with the Picture People the same day in favor of looking around at other options. Low and behold, within a few days time, my wife had located a coupon for use at a competing photography studio, that being Portrait Innovations. The coupon offered a shoot with prints for around $40 - that sounded like a great deal to me when compared to the fact that the Picture People wanted the equivalent of a car payment for their services, so we set up an appointment with them.

I forget who it was that said this to us but when we told someone about the shoot and the coupon their comment was "Oh, but you know you're going to want to buy more pictures than that!" I already had it in mind that there was a possibility we might want to add a few prints but I didn't see us spending more than $60, tops, and I gave that number to my wife as a ceiling for what I saw as being a reasonable expenditure.

Those would fall into the category of famous last words.

Our photo shoot was scheduled for 11 AM on the morning of January 17. Jill's Mom was staying with us that weekend as the three of us all had the following Monday off in observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. We got dressed, prepped Duke, and loaded ourselves into the car so that we could be there with time to spare.

It was around 10:35 AM when we arrived and the parking lot was rather full already by that time of day. I point that out more for the sake of describing the scene than anything else seeing as how this particular Portrait Innovations is attached to several other shops in a strip mall, so it only made sense that parking would be limited. Regardless, as we got out of the car I began to get the same feeling as I do when I have an appointment with a doctor; your appointment may be for 11 AM but what they mean is you'll be seen somewhere between 11 AM and the rapture.

When we entered the studio there appeared to be one family in the process of having photos taken and two others that were waiting to get started. The customers who were there had spread out in such a way that all the seating was taken except for one chair, which we quickly assumed possession of so as to give Duke somewhere to perch until it was our turn. I don't blame those other families for the lack of seating, I blame the business. The waiting area was big enough to have accommodated significantly more seating than what was installed. As it was, we made like a couple of horses and stood around.

By the time 11:30 rolled around the family that was already on set when we arrived had wrapped up their shoot and one of the families in front of us were roughly half way through their turn. The other family ahead of us that was still waiting to begin apparently lost their will to hang around any longer and left without saying anything to the staff. Low and behold, not five minutes passed from the point that they left to when one of the attendants came to fetch them and begin their shoot. Their loss was our gain.

We began our shoot around noon, nearly a full hour later than our appointment. Jill had told me that the plan going into this was to not only get photos of the Duke but to also have a few family portraits made, and that sounded like a fantastic idea to me. What did not sound like a fantastic idea was the photographers first pose for us as a family which would require the three of us to get on the ground.

I am 34 years old as of this writing however I will tell you that I am probably less than 10 years away from having to have some sort of procedure done to one or possibly both of my knees. I'm not immobile by any stretch of the imagination, but when you combine my joints being what they are with the fact that I'm not the most graceful of individuals anyway, you can hopefully understand why getting on the ground isn't something I often choose to do. I did it anyway because that's what was asked of me and I wanted to try my best to make the most of the situation.

The pose we wound up in had me on the ground on my left side with my right knee raised and my left arm/leg left to prop myself up. It wasn't an uncomfortable position, to be quite honest, but it became uncomfortable after my wife and Duke were added to the mix (I'm not blaming them, I'm blaming the pose!) as I wound up more or less having to support their weight with my hips and lower back. It just wasn't a good situation for my pelvis and spine, is what I'm getting at. Making matters worse were the commands of the photographer to lean in, get closer, turn your head, and keep smiling all the while even though your left femur feels like it's about to pop out of its socket. I don't know why it is photographers have to put their subjects in these odd poses - they are wholly unnatural and you can tell this in the resulting images.

We did one additional pose as a family and it was in a more traditional arrangement where my wife & I were seated on stools, holding Duke in between us. The shots we got from that pose were the best ones of the day and I would've been perfectly fine if the thing had ended there. It went on for a while longer, though, and Jill's Mom even got brought into the mix. The idea, of course, is to take as many poses as possible because then they can try to sell them to you, which brings me to the next phase of this event.

Once we were done taking photos, we sat down in front of a monitor with our photographer - a young black woman who looked to be in her early to mid 20s - to go over what we had to work with. It was then that my wife mentioned to the photog that we had a coupon; the photog more or less hushed my wife, telling her that it was only good for one pose and that we'd get a much better deal by going with one of the packages currently being offered. How much those packages were going to cost wasn't discussed at that point, though, as we first had to go through and select our favorite shots.

Remember how I mentioned earlier the fact that pricing information for packages offered by these studios isn't readily available online? Nowhere in the shop itself was there a display, menu, or any kind of signage that would clue customers in to what they'd be forking over for pictures made therein.

The pictures did look quite good for the most part, although there were a few poses (such as the one of us on the floor) that just looked weird. Once we had it narrowed down to somewhere in the area of 16 poses the photog navigated through her software to the sales module and we finally got an idea of what we were looking at in terms of cost.

The first package she showed us was $554.

FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR DOLLARS.

To put that into perspective, when I was still making payments on my truck they were $250 a month, and when we were renting a house after we got married the rent payment was $525 a month.

I think she was joking but the photog turned to me after the total charge for that package was displayed on the screen and said, "So, Dad, do you want to write a check for that today?" Joking or not, the disgust on my face and in my tone of voice was very real.

I should mention that the packages I speak of are set up in such a way that you have to buy a certain number of photos featuring a specific set of poses in order to get freebies. For example, you might select 12 poses which would qualify you for a free hardcover book, two softcover books, and a CD with all the photos burned onto it. The more poses you select the more freebies you get, and the fewer poses you select the fewer freebies you get. This whole deal is, of course, meant to make customers feel like they're getting a deal when in reality you're paying for every one of the freebies. I have no method of verifying this but I would hazard a guess and say that the photogs (who double as sales staff) are more than likely working off of commission.

We then went through the process of whittling down our selection so that we could try to get to a price point that wasn't quite so ridiculous. For me, this became like what happened last year when I took my truck in for service to get the brakes done. What I thought was going to be a $200 bill wound up being almost $600. In this instance, what I thought would be a $60 bill wound up being $100 (the package we picked was around $200 and, thankfully, Jill's Mom was generous enough to pay half of the total). We paid our due, left to have lunch (it was roughly 1:30 PM by then, and I was feeling every bit of it since the only thing I'd had to eat thus far that day was a fiber bar), then came back about an hour and a half later to pick up our photos.

I made a comment about our experience on Facebook and a friend of our family chimed in with the comment, "Been there, done that, got the t-shirt." Along those lines, the lesson I take away from this is that it's all a part of being a parent. Sure, the pictures are good and we'll undoubtedly treasure them for as long as we can, but this is one of those times we'll look back on in 10, 15, 20 years and say "Do you remember how silly this day was?" Then we'll see the pictures with that little boy and his perfectly round head, and the money won't matter. The standing around won't matter. The pain in my knees won't matter. What matters is that we have a family and we did this together as a family.

2014 - A Year in Review

Yeah, I know I'm a few weeks late with this (I say that apologetically although when you're examining the past should there be a realistic time frame in which someone has to look back in a retrospective manner?), but I have plenty of logical reasons for my first blog entry of 2015 having taken a while to make its way from my brain to the Internet. It's called being a dad and I am happy to say that of all the reasons I could have for ignoring something as ultimately frivolous (in the grand scheme of things anyway; not to discredit this fine publication but my priorities are what they are) as this here blog trust me when I say that there is none more rewarding than that.

I guess that's as suitable a segue as any into what was undoubtedly the most prolific, life-altering experience to come out of 2014, that being the culmination of the process my wife Jill and I have gone through in building our family. I won't bother recapping the entire turn of events that lead us where we are today (if you'd like, feel free to refer back to any of my blog entries that are titled "Our Road to Building a Family" as well as pretty much any blog entry my wife has made at her site - The Truesdale Times - in the past year), however I will make it known that to have what we have now is such an incredible gift. Our son - The Duke, as we'll still be referring to him until the adoption proceedings are finalized - will soon be 3 months old. He amazes me each and every day with his personality. There is nothing in the world that makes me as happy as seeing him smile and hearing him laugh. He's already changed and grown so much in the short period of time we've had him, it just makes me wish time would slow down or that I would somehow be able to appreciate it more because he'll only be this way for a short period of time. He'll be crawling soon, then he'll pull himself up to make his first steps, and before you know it he'll be graduating from college.

Oh, life - won't you take your shoes off and stay for a while? Quick, let me move on to other topics before I get any more cheesy and emotional over how awesome our little family unit became over the stretch of 2014.

Last year was full of experiences for my wife and I as we were able to travel and do some things we'd not been able to previously. I, personally, started off the year with a trip to Winston-Salem, North Carolina in pursuit of one of my hobbies, that being following independent professional wrestling promotions in the region. Jill & I made our way to Duluth, Georgia (which isn't too far away from Atlanta) for a Valentine's Day jaunt to pay a visit to a third Medieval Times castle. (We've been to their locations in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Orlando, Florida; I won't say that we're officially on a trek to visit all the MT castles but at the same time I won't deny that it sounds like a fun endeavor.) May was a month that I think I'll remember fondly for the rest of my life seeing as how we got to go to one of our favorite vacation destinations, that being Walt Disney World, for the 2014 edition of Star Wars Weekends during which we got to meet a slew of Star Wars characters as well as see a panel that involved actors Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) and Warwick Davis (Wicket). Our yearly vacation to Myrtle Beach was memorable for a number of reasons, not the least of which being the fact that I was able to reclaim the Annual Myrtle Beach Putt Putt Challenge Championship trophy for the second time. Our tires got a bit of rest towards the middle of the year but they got back onto the road around Labor Day as we ventured to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for a weekend getaway that turned out to be an adventure. And to cap things off as far as road trips are concerned, I traveled to Gibsonville, North Carolina in October to attend a pro wrestling card held there.

I had several people pose the question "Where are y'all headed this weekend?" to me throughout 2014. I guess by that you could say that we do a good job of documenting (and publicizing) our lives seeing as how they wouldn't be asking that otherwise. The truth of the matter is that I've never been a homebody - I blame my Grandmother for this as she was exactly the same, seemingly never content to spend too much time at home, preferring to be out and about enjoying herself whether that meant taking a bus tour across the country or going shopping. I enjoy getting out, seeing the world and doing things, and I don't anticipate that changing any time soon. That being the case the answer to "Where are y'all headed this weekend?" is, quite simply, wherever we feel like it.

2014 was not without its moments of trauma, unfortunately.

We got our first dose of what it's like to be fearful for our property's health and well-being in February when a horrible ice storm assaulted our part of the world. Rarely have I felt a sense of isolation so thick as I did during the few days that we were more or less cut off from the rest of the world by the effects of the storm (we only lost power for a few hours but our home phone, television, and internet connectivity was down for several days; to make matters worse our cellular reception isn't that great where we live). And, for the record, I'll be perfectly fine if I never hear the sound of trees cracking and falling under the weight of accumulated ice. I kid you not, our neighborhood was so tense that it seemed as though there were a thousand ACME brand anvils strung up by frayed twine, all of which were waiting for just the right moment to fall - but would they fall harmlessly to the ground or calamitously onto someone's house? We were fortunate that our home wasn't damaged, thankfully, and aside from a few downed limbs we didn't have much to concern ourselves with in terms of cleanup.

Not everyone has a pet. Those people are weird, or at least I believe they are. Animals, dogs specifically, make life better in my opinion. They give us companionship and affection, and in return all they want is for us to be happy. That being the case, it's easy to understand why it's so hard to deal with when age gets the best of them and they finally come to the end of what was hopefully an adventurous life. Chewie, my Mom's beloved dachshund, left this world towards the end of 2014 and it still makes me sad to think about the fact that he's not with us anymore. I buried him behind our storage shed. When the weather is right I plan on reseeding our lawn and once the grass gets going I'll put down a marker my wife & I had made for him.

Raise your hand if you've ever thought you were going to have to fight a brush fire extending off of a 4 alarm house fire with a garden hose while wearing your pajamas and a pair of sandals in 40° weather? No takers? My hand is raised, because I've been there!

Near the end of November, just after Thanksgiving, a vacant house two doors down from ours was more or less gutted by a fire. The heat from the blaze was so intense that it melted the vinyl siding on a home that exists between ours and it. At one point I genuinely thought I was going to have to try and stave off the flames that were steadily marching across the grassy lot between the two properties but fortunately enough the local fire department arrived with haste, thus saving me the trouble. (I was ready and willing, is the point I'm trying to make.) The house was a total loss and arson investigators from South Carolina's State Law Enforcement Division were on hand in the days after the fire. I don't think there has been any progress in the case (there's been no public comment from any authorities on the matter) but it definitely seemed suspicious seeing as how no one had been there for weeks and, from what we were told, the electricity had been turned off. It's been several months since then and the house that burned still sits in the state it was left, complete with crime scene tape. It's an eyesore and I certainly hope the owners of that property will have it cleaned up sooner rather than later.

Everyone who knows me well knows how big a fan I am of professional wrestling. Always have been, more than likely always will be. (I say that even though here lately the bulk of World Wrestling Entertainment's TV programming has made me question why I bother tuning in to their shows anymore.) In recent years I have grown especially fond of supporting our local pro wrestling promotions and the talent making up those rosters. I mentioned earlier in this post how I went to Winston-Salem, NC for an event. It was around that same time that I began to hatch the idea for my very own YouTube show, which I envisioned as being something of a reality or documentary series wherein I would depict the experience of what it's like to be a fan of indie pro wrestling and what it's like to attend events put on by promotions falling into that category. Rasslin' with Redbeard is what that idea eventually became, and I'm proud to say that I was able to produce 12 episodes in 2014.



In addition, I began filming matches at the events I attend and I add those to my YouTube channel as well. My mission there has been to hopefully do my part in giving the talent that exists in our neck of the woods an opportunity to be seen by eyes that might have bigger and grander ideas for them than what they're enjoying currently. It pleases me greatly when I see individuals sharing the content I publish, not because it does anything for me, personally, but because it validates the objective I've set for this effort.



I made a point to say that last bit there because I don't know that everyone understands that seeing as how I've had to deal with a few negative reactions to what I've been doing. More so than anything, that sort of response comes from people who feel as though I'm either presenting them in a negative light or otherwise cutting into their profits by way of making their product freely available when they had machinations of selling it. The fact of the matter is that with Rasslin' with Redbeard I am sharing my personal experience as a fan who drives (several hours in some cases) to a venue, pays for a ticket, and spends money at the concession stand. Not that shelling out my hard earned cash grants me a right to do whatever I want, rather that if I offer constructive criticism it's the honest opinion of someone who's been to enough shows and seen enough matches to know what's good, what's bad, and what falls somewhere in between. Believe me when I say that I do try to stay positive in promoting indie pro wrestling as a whole because there's enough snarky commentary out here on the Internet about pro wrestling as is, hence the reason why I want to build up as opposed to tearing down. That said, if I enjoy a show, I'm going to tell you I enjoyed it and if I didn't enjoy a show, I'm going to tell you about it, too.

To those of you who've taken issue with me over any of the material I've published, please know that I make no money from doing what I do with this content. I invest my personal time, effort, funds, and materials for the exclusive purpose of (hopefully) increasing the exposure of talent and promotions because I feel like they deserve it.

2014 was a great year and, in my heart, I have high hopes for 2015. I think that this will be a stellar year for my wife & I, and our still developing little family unit. With any luck we'll soon be able to share all the details imaginable about The Duke and we'll be able to go about our lives without need for all the cloak and dagger nonsense we've had to endure. He'll be joining us on all our adventures and get to live the full, spoiled rotten life he deserves.

Event Report: World Wrestling Entertainment presents WWE Live (12-5-2014)

My wife and I were able to have a night out on the town this past Friday night, which is something that's a very valuable commodity now that the focus of most of our free time is taking care of the Duke. He's a bit needy since he is a newborn and all, but we're not holding that against him - it's not his fault he can't prepare his own supper or wipe his rear end yet, obviously.

This particular night was a special occasion seeing as how World Wrestling Entertainment was in Columbia, South Carolina for a live event at the Colonial Life Arena. If you didn't know, live events are also referred to as house shows because they are non-televised. Companies like WWE use them for a number of purposes. For one, they're quick cash generators as they typically take advantage of whatever the going storylines are on TV to pique the interest of fans in a local market. In addition, they're an opportunity for a promotion to test the waters in terms of how an audience reacts to a match, a new gimmick for a performer, or any number of things which may or may not wind up appearing in programming later on.

In this instance it looked as though a majority of what was going on had to do with the upcoming Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view that is set to take place later this month. That event will be headlined by a tables match featuring John Cena and Seth Rollins - who would also be headlining the event we saw in Columbia.

Getting in and around the parking lots at CLA has always been somewhat tricky seeing as how the building is in the middle of downtown Columbia, is adjacent to several major streets, sits on the doorstep of the University of South Carolina's Greek village, and there's usually no assistance from local law enforcement in terms of directing traffic. That last bit is an issue thanks to the fact that there are no traffic lights to control the flow of cars, rather a couple 4-way stops that leave it to motorists to negotiate matters amongst themselves.

We got to the arena around 6:30 PM by which time a majority of the front-most parking lot was filled. Cost for parking that night was $5 - that's not too bad seeing as how game day parking for events at Williams Brice Stadium will set you back $20 or more, depending on how close you want to be to the venue.

Our tickets were being held at will call even though I had purchased them as part of a pre-sale promotion. Why? Allow me to elaborate.

Face value of the tickets I chose was $25. Those seats were a good middle ground option since they were not as expensive as the $90 floor seats but with a better view than the $15 seats. (WWE offers what is called the WWE VIP Experience for certain of their events; this is a package that includes front row seating where you are given the chair you sat in that evening, a backstage meet and greet with some of the Superstars, and a few other perks. These packages start around $300 and go up from there. Yes, there were a handful of VIP seats sold at this event!) There was a section of limited view seats available for this event, which struck me as odd seeing as how there were no limitations on the view; "limited view" usually refers to seating situated in such a way that it can be blocked by staging used during TV tapings. As I mentioned earlier, this was a non-televised event.

After you add in CLA's fees ($9 per ticket for this show; I've referred to convenience/facility fees previously as the "take a dump" fee because I can only assume they want you to pay for the fact that you had to go to the bathroom while you were there), our total was $68. Wait, we're not done yet because that amount doesn't count the fee you incur depending on the ticketing delivery option you select: Mail delivery, print at home, or will call. I don't remember how much the other two were but at $3.50 will call was the cheapest of the three. (What that $3.50 covers I can only imagine. I gather these tickets are printed on parchment salvaged from an ancient Egyptian tomb and printed using the blood of pandas.) If you add in the cost of parking and ticketing delivery split between our two tickets, a $25 ticket in reality costs $38.25.

And folks in the pro wrestling business wonder why live event attendance is down!

I have to commend the people who work behind the scenes to operate and maintain CLA. It is a beautiful arena that is always pristine in appearance and the staff working there are generally quite cordial. I can't say as I've ever had a bad experience there.

Our seats were in one of the lower levels several rows off the floor. When it comes to events like this I've learned that the only good floor seats are in the front row. If you're sitting further back from that you're going to spend the majority of the time dodging the backs of other people's heads instead of watching the show. Given how much those seats cost, it's simply not worth it. For this reason unless I can get front row I'm perfectly fine taking a seat in the bleachers. Quite frankly I don't know that I would buy front row these days even if the opportunity presented itself seeing as how in my opinion the product doesn't warrant the cost.

A number of vignettes and advertisements were shown on the jumbo-trons around the arena before bell time, and these included a message from Dolph Ziggler who spoke about his Intercontinental championship match against Luke Harper that would be coming up later on in the evening. I can only guess as to what attendance might have been but I will note that there were plenty of good seats available. (The house looked about the same as what we've seen the last few times we've been to WWE live events in Columbia.) The show began promptly at 7:30 PM and our ring announcer for the evening was none other than Brandi Rhodes who is the wife of Cody Rhodes.

Here's a rundown of the card along with my thoughts on each match.

#1) Ryback defeated Curtis Axel

Ryback has had his name in the press a lot here lately thanks to having been the subject of some of CM Punk's comments made during an interview on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast wherein Punk stated that Ryback was responsible for injuring him on a number of occasions. If Punk's statements are true, it would appear as though Ryback's previous gimmick of "The Corn-fed Meathead" Skip Sheffield wasn't that far off from reality.

Speaking of Ryback, he definitely benefited from being the first babyface (hero/good guy) to appear on the card as the crowd reaction he received was quite audible. It appeared to be coming from the same section of the audience that later on in the evening would be chanting "LET'S GO CENA!"

This seemed like an odd bit of booking to me because it was only a short while ago that Curtis Axel and Ryback were working as a tag team called RybAxel (appropriately enough). To my knowledge there was never a storyline presented as to why they'd be broken up, but then again the success of many modern WWE storylines is dependent upon the fact that their writers assume the fans suffer from some form of memory loss. (Hence the reason why Big Show has gone through something along the lines of 20 character turns - as in transitioning from hero to villain - during his run with WWE.) Nevertheless, you can tell who was Marty and who was Shawn out of their pairing based on the fact that Ryback was in the main event of Survivor Series and Axel has been relegated to appearances on Main Event (if you don't get the Marty/Shawn reference, I'm sorry but you've been reading this entry for far too long to be that far out of touch with this kind of material).

#2) Fandango (with Rosa Mendes) defeated Sin Cara

Fandango was announced as being "the new and improved Fandango". I bother with pointing that out because the wrestler now known as Fandango has been involved with WWE since 2006 (not the whole time as Fandango; he's had 3 or 4 other gimmicks) at which point he began working with Deep South Wrestling, an independent promotion that served as a developmental territory for WWE which no longer exists. He has worked there, Florida Championship Wrestling, NXT, and finally as part of the main WWE roster. For someone as talented as he apparently is to have had such a drawn out career with no real highlights to speak of is baffling to me.

Sin Cara came to the ring sporting a Lucha Dragons t-shirt, which is the name of the tag team he's involved with in NXT. As of this writing he and his partner, Kalisto, are the WWE NXT Tag Team Champions.

#3) Emma, Alicia Fox & Charlotte defeated Paige & The Bella Twins

There was a social media push before the show began towards getting the fans in attendance to use a Twitter hashtag to vote on whether they wanted to see a 6-Divas tag team match or if they wanted to see a 1-on-1 Divas match. In terms of offering up options to fans of pro wrestling, that's like asking a 6 year old if they want a chocolate-dipped ice cream cone or some nice blanched asparagus.

The big deal here was that Charlotte was involved. She's the current WWE NXT Women's Champion and, perhaps of more interest to most fans, the daughter of "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. She was involved for the majority of the match and made a good showing for herself. The Flair references are a little thick with her presentation at the moment seeing as how she had "WOOO!"-ed about a dozen times before the match even started.

After the match was over, Nikki and Brie (the Bella Twins) began to argue with one another. The two of them are supposed to be on the same page according to what's going on within TV storylines, however they appeared to have split on less than amicable terms this night as Brie shoved Nikki and walked off on her own. That could be foreshadowing something to come down the line but it could also be an example of how house shows exist in a vacuum, meaning none of these events matter in the grand scheme of things because they aren't on TV and therefore aren't part of the running narrative.

#4) Intercontinental Championship Match - Dolph Ziggler defeated Luke Harper by disqualification

Going into the show I had this contest in mind as being a contender for match of the night. In reality it felt kind of flat, and that bugs me for a number of reasons. Knowing what these two are capable of and seeing the match they had, it surprised me that it was somewhat dull in its pacing. I knew Ziggler had zero chance of winning the title because titles never change hands at live events (that's not entirely true; they do change hands at live events but only about as frequently as we elect Presidents). The fact that the guts of the match didn't feature the sort of athleticism these two show off during episodes of RAW or Smackdown was disappointing but the decision to have the match end as the result of Harper pushing Ziggler into the referee was somewhat confusing (at first I thought the ref had disqualified Ziggler for making contact with him) and mostly unsatisfying.

- Intermission -

#5) R-Truth defeated Cesaro

As I mentioned on my Twitter feed, this is why CM Punk quit.

Here's another crazy booking decision which doesn't make any sense to me. Why would a guy like R-Truth, who hasn't been on any of the main WWE programming for a while now, get a win over Cesaro? I can only assume Cesaro is in someone's doghouse. If this is all the Swiss Superman will ever get to be on the main roster, then by all means send him back to NXT where he can be appreciated for having phenomenal matches with talent like Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, and Hideo Itami.

#6) A New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E Langston with Xavier Woods) defeated WWE Tag Team Champions The Miz & Damien Mizdow in a non-title bout

This was my favorite match of the night because out of the 7 contests on the card it was the one that had the most energy and life to it. The Miz can get heat just by picking up a microphone, Damien Mizdow is one of the best characters in WWE right now, and I sincerely hope that A New Day goes far because those guys are working their tails off in that gimmick.

#7) John Cena defeated Seth Rollins in a street fight

The last event my wife and I attended together before this one was a WWE Live show in November of 2013 which was also held at CLA. The main event that night was a street fight between the Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper & Eric Rowan) and the team of CM Punk & Daniel Bryan. Fast forward to the present where the Wyatt Family doesn't exist, Daniel Bryan may or may not ever wrestle again, and CM Punk is gone from WWE completely. My how things change over the course of a year!

I have to give a hand to Cena and Rollins because this match was definitely more in line with what one would expect when you hear of a match being held under street fight rules than others I've seen. (Of course you could just as well interchange street fight, extreme rules, no disqualifications, and a few other labels that get added to matches where anything goes. Why WWE uses one instead of another is anyone's guess. Perhaps WWE conducted a study and determined that "street fight" was more effective in terms of marketing.) They brawled up and down the aisle, made use of a number of weapons, and Rollins had so much heat on him that he even managed to make a young female fan at ringside burst into tears. That's the kind of reaction you rarely see anymore in pro wrestling and it goes to show that no matter how many times John Cena may face insurmountable odds (and triumphantly overcome them) his loyal fans are there with him 100% of the time.

Rollins went through two tables during the match, once on a reversal out of an Irish whip into one of the corners and a second time via an Attitude Adjuster from Cena off the top rope. I believe Cena and Rollins had this same match at least once more during the loop of live events this past weekend, so that means Rollins likely went through 4 or more tables in less than 3 days time. All I can say to that is hopefully he has a good chiropractor.

All things considered this was a fun night out but the matches overall left both of us feeling like there was something missing. I don't know if that something is star power, emotional involvement, or what but this was a fairly vanilla piece of work. Looking back, I think it's interesting that out of 7 matches the heel (villain) only won once, that being Fandango.

Of course we couldn't go to something like this without shooting an episode of Rasslin' with Redbeard! I have to give my wife major kudos seeing as how she served as camera operator for more than a few shots that became a part of this episode. She humors me and my silly endeavors, which is just one reason why I love her.

Introducing the Professional Wrestling Awards of the Carolinas

The Carolinas have long been heralded as the origin of greatness in the realm of professional wrestling. Men, women, and promotions now considered to be legendary in their scope of influence on the future of professional wrestling began here in this, the region we call home. It is in this tradition of greatness that the Professional Wrestling Awards of the Carolinas will carry on in celebrating the achievements of talent working in the Carolinas.

For more information about the PWACs, visit the official group page on Facebook

Founded in 2014, the electorate of the Professional Wrestling Awards of the Carolinas is made up of a rotating seven-member panel of individuals who are in some way involved in the Carolinas independent wrestling scene. Categories included in the PWACs are:

Announcer of the Year

Referee of the Year

Rising Star

Feud of the Year

Female of the Year

Tag Team of the Year

Wrestler of the Year

Nominees for the PWACs are submitted by panel members; the list of nominees is narrowed to three competitors based on the highest percentage of nominations received. Winners are selected by panelist voting on the remaining contenders in each category. Whoever receives the most votes is declared the winner of a particular category.

Membership for the first panel of the PWACs will be made up of the following individuals.

Robert “Redbeard” Truesdale

Blogger/Documentarian

Robert “Redbeard” Truesdale has followed the Carolinas’ independent professional wrestling scene as a fan for nearly 15 years. Truesdale – who was a self-described “gopher boy” in his late teens for a long defunct promotion out of Lancaster, South Carolina – is well-traveled, having attended events in all corners of the Carolinas. He documents his wrestling-related road trips on his blog, Redbeard’s Rambling, as well as Rasslin’ with Redbeard, a YouTube series dedicated to depicting the experience of being an indie wrestling fan in the region.

Harrison South Worth

Photographer/Trainer

Even though his name may not be immediately recognizable, Harrison South Worth is a man who’s been a part of the independent professional wrestling scene in southern states (not just the Carolinas) for decades. Worth, who is a financial administrator as well as an athlete, has served as a trainer, promoter, and creative consultant for a number of federations at various points in his life. If you follow many of the top promotions and wrestlers in the Carolinas on social media, you’ve likely seen his photography (Worth Wrestle Photos) appear in your timeline. Indeed, he has an eye for talent and the credibility to make his thoughts count.

Chris Moister

Referee

Experienced journeyman referees are like the bass players of professional wrestling – their presence is acknowledged but their value is rarely made a point of because their role is that of support and not of star. Perhaps better known to observant fans as Ray Boring, Chris Moister is a veteran of the United States military who has grinded his way into being recognized as the head official for several promotions. Through his work ethic and commitment to consistently performing his duties as referee at a high level, he has become “the man in charge of all the action” for companies based in Georgia, both North and South Carolina, and will soon make his way into Tennessee.

Brett Wolverton

Ring Announcer

Much like referees, quality ring announcers are individuals whose contributions to professional wrestling are either underappreciated or woefully ignored altogether. That said, the fact that Brett Wolverton can be seen almost any given weekend handling the ring announcing duties (as well as providing television commentary and in some locales even serving as commissioner of the company) at events from Charleston to Cornelia and from Charlotte to Cayce means that he’s earned his place as someone who’s capable of adding an air of respect and professionalism to any given show. While Wolverton’s capacity to trade barbs with fans and unruly, villainous mouthpieces is evident, his distinctive delivery and his effort to maintain a dapper presentation distinguish him from the rest.

“The Fabulous Playboy” Bob Keller

Professional Wrestler

If it was scientifically possible to measure the amount of energy needed to convince a person that they hate someone else, “The Fabulous Playboy” Bob Keller would be as suitable a medium as any for facilitating such a study. Walking in the footsteps of infamous wrestling personalities such as “Classy” Freddie Blassie and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Keller has the rare ability to verbally eviscerate anyone he encounters through a combination of snares and insults. Even though Keller excels in the part of a scoundrel he can play a more straight-laced role as well which is why his versatility as a performer makes him a valuable commodity for any promotion. When he isn’t riling up his competition or the fans at ringside, Keller is working behind the scenes in a number of roles to help keep an event on track. Keller’s influence on independent professional wrestling in the Carolinas will continue to be felt through the work he does as operator of the WrestleForce School of Pro Wrestling.

Abel Adams

Professional Wrestler - Retired

When the subject of respected veterans comes up in regard to talking about local independent professional wrestlers, the list of names one can legitimately speak of is short. Be that as it may, a name that is consistently and deservedly involved in those discussions is that of Abel Adams. Best known as being one-half of Team Ego with his partner Will Snap, Adams’ reputation as a locker room leader and ring general precedes him. Having had at least a hand in developing the careers of competitors such as “The Southern Savior” John Skyler, Steven Walters (Dash Wilder in World Wrestling Entertainment’s NXT division), and IMPACT Wrestling’s Gunner, Adams contribution to independent professional wrestling in the Carolinas is most evident and will continue to be on display for years to come.

Brad “Lodi” Cain

Professional Wrestler

If you were a fan of professional wrestling during the late 1990s and paid attention to World Championship Wrestling, then you more than likely encountered one or more of the in-ring personalities of Lodi. Whether it was his run as “the sign guy” in Raven’s Flock, the unforgettable pairing he had with Lenny Lane in the West Hollywood Blondes, or the follow-up thereof with Lane as Standards & Practices (the team that would introduce the world to Stacey Keibler) the man has performed in front of untold thousands of fans and been on millions of TV screens all over the world. When he’s not beating his clientele skinny as owner of the personal fitness studio Your FLEX Appeal, Lodi – a North Carolina native, graduate of East Carolina University, and former member of the United States Army Reserve – can these days be found most any weekend of the month entertaining fans with his unmistakable sense of showmanship.

For more information on the PWACs, please join the official group page on Facebook by clicking this link.